alstry (35.84)

A Mushroom Cloud forming......CA needs your $$$$$$$$!!!!!!

11

Remember some Fool blogging about this exact issue a little while ago......especially when the top executives resigned en mass in May?????

From the WSJ:

Calpers has lost almost a quarter of its assets since July 1, the start of the current fiscal year.

Calpers in recent weeks said it expects to report paper losses of 103% on its residential investments in the fiscal year ended June 30. That's because Calpers invested not only its own money, but billions of dollars of borrowed money that must be repaid even if the investment fails. In some deals, as much as 80% of the money invested by Calpers was borrowed.With $239 billion in assets as of June, Calpers's portfolio was bigger than the government-run funds of Russia, South Korea, Dubai and Chile combined. In recent years, Calpers became much more aggressive than other pension funds in making nontraditional investments -- real estate, foreign stocks, even forestland.

Unless Calpers's returns bounce back by June, the fund says it expects that the rates it charges governments to participate in the pension could rise starting in 2010, leaving them with less money to spend on other services.

Alicia Munnell of the Center for Retirement Research, Boston College, says the economic slump will likely force other pensions besides Calpers to pass on the financial pain. "Even under the best-case scenario...taxpayers are still going to have to put more money into pension funds."

Calpers stresses that it's a long-term investor and can earn back the declines in the future, just as it erased declines suffered in the dot-com bust a few years ago. "No one in the marketplace knew how swiftly the housing market would fall -- not the Federal Reserve, not the Treasury," said Ted Eliopoulos, head of Calpers's real-estate portfolio, in an interview.

NOW.... THAT IS NOT EXACTLY TRUE IS IT??? A NUMBER OF CAPS PLAYERS KNEW!!!!

The only way these jokers are going to "earn" back the money is take it from you one way or the other. Remember, CA now has a budget deficit approaching $40 Billion. Calpers has lost about $60 Billion since June 1st. No wonder the governor augmented his description of the current budget crisis from an avalanche to armegeddon.

With a population of about 33 million.....just with what is known......the state would need a check for about $3000 from every man woman and child just to make up what is known. Think about that the next time the government wants to send you a check for $600. With likely less than 10% of the population in a position to make any payment at all......now we are looking at over $30K per person.

Folks this is just one state with state only issues. The problem with the press and politicians is few put pencil to paper until its too late. In Alstry's world, this is just fantasy...... the salient question is it too late in reality.....right NOW?

More drivers are letting their car insurance lapse because of the sour economy, putting themselves and others at risk.

Several hundred thousand drivers dropped their insurance in the past year as the jobless rate climbed, estimates a study to be released next month by the Insurance Research Council, an industry-funded group. Online agency Insurance.com says it also is seeing evidence recently of more uninsured motorists. It says that as many as 40% of callers following up on online applications had let their previous policies lapse, up from less than 10% a couple years ago.

As times become more difficult for more Americans....it will become harder and harder for them to financially uphold their societal responsibilities. What if you are the only one on your street able to afford to pay property taxes.....who do you think the government is going to collect from for maintenance?

What if only a few can afford health care coverage....guess who is going to pay for all of the uninsured costs?....if you expect the hospitals to stay open.......

And if you think the government is going to pick up the tab.....where do you think it is going to receive its tax dollars from.....

As long as we keep looking to the next guy.....pretty soon the only person to look at will be the one staring you in the mirror.

The head of the International Monetary Fund urged governments to step up action to stem the global economic crisis or risk delaying a recovery and sparking violent unrest on the streets.

Using a speech last night in Madrid to issue his stark warning, Dominique Strauss-Kahn argued that government efforts to tackle the economic downturn so far have been uncertain and largely insufficient, which could lead to severe consequences.

"If we are not able to do that, then social unrest may happen in many countries - including advanced economies," Strauss-Kahn said.

He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.

If you give most the money to a few banks on unbelievable terms and very little to the people.....how do you expect starving people to behave as sustainable wages become harder and harder to obtain?????

A new Citigroup scandal is engulfing Robert Rubin and his former disciple Chuck Prince for their roles in an alleged Ponzi-style scheme that's now choking world banking.

Director Rubin and ousted CEO Prince - and their lieutenants over the past five years - are named in a federal lawsuit for an alleged complex cover-up of toxic securities that spread across the globe, wiping out trillions of dollars in their destructive paths.

Investor-plaintiffs in the suit accuse Citi management of overseeing the repackaging of unmarketable collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that no one wanted - and then reselling them to Citi and hiding the poisonous exposure off the books in shell entities.

The lawsuit said that when the bottom fell out of the shaky assets in the past year, Citi's stock collapsed, wiping out more than $122 billion of shareholder value.

It seems like everyday another big time CEO, who supposedly knew what he was doing, is exposed as corrupt and a fraud. I've felt all along that there were a lot of people out there illegally working the system and cheating the average person out of millions. However, I'm starting to wonder if there is going to be anybody left after we've exposed all the fraudulant/corrupt leaders (government officials included). There has always been, and always will be, corruption in politics/business, but wow have we really taken this to a whole new level...